Red Fox

The biggest true fox and the most widespread carnivoran on Earth, at home from tundra to city streets.

The red fox, Vulpes vulpes, is the largest true fox and the most broadly distributed member of the order Carnivora. It ranges across the whole Northern Hemisphere, covering most of North America, Europe and Asia plus parts of North Africa, and people have carried it to Australia, where it hunts native rodents and marsupials. That damage puts it among the world's 100 worst invasive species, even though the IUCN Red List rates it as least concern. What sets it apart from other foxes, besides size, is how fast it adjusts to new surroundings, which has let it thrive in suburbs and towns.

Quick Facts

Genus: Vulpes
Audio: FuchsSchreit.mp3

Facts from the source article.

Background

The species arose in Eurasia in the Middle Pleistocene, at least 400,000 years ago, possibly from Vulpes alopecoides or the Chinese V. chikushanensis. The oldest fossils come from Baranya County, Hungary, and show a smaller animal than today's foxes. Early remains found beside human refuse heaps suggest prehistoric people hunted foxes for meat and pelts. Red foxes reached North America in two waves, the later one during the Wisconsinan glaciation about 130,000 years ago, and American populations have been cut off from Old World ones for over 400,000 years. The closest relative is Rüppell's fox, whose lineage sits inside the red fox's own mitochondrial family tree. The name fox traces back through Old English to Proto-Germanic fuhsaz.

Did You Know?

In colloquial British English the red fox is just called the fox, since it is the only fox native to Western Europe.
A 46th subspecies, the Sacramento Valley red fox, was identified in 2010.
The Ojibwe name waagosh refers to the bouncing flicker of the animal's tail.
Wisconsinan-era red fox fossils are known from 25 sites across the United States.